It was only a matter of time before a bidding war commenced on holding down or cutting the pay of public service workers. We now appear to be heading into a frenzy of self styled 'austerity measures'. UNISON’s NEC meeting today is confronted with an unprecedented and rising onslaught against our members.
Step 1. The right wing Economist magazine in last week’s special edition on public spending cuts in its lead editorial ‘where the axe should fall’ stated that: The public pay bill has increased sharply over the past decade. Many more people now work for the state. Public-sector earnings have risen faster than those in the private sector, and the state continues to provide generous defined-benefit pensions, which are dying elsewhere. This is an obvious place to reduce spending. Pension reform will not yield much in the short run, but sharp and sustained pay curbs would.
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14505529
Step 2. Chancellor Alistair Darling took his cue and on Monday of this week wrote to supposedly independent public pay review bodies covering 40,000 senior public servants (earning in excess £50k) and ordered a pay freeze. The pay of 700,000 ‘middle ranking public servants would be held down to less than 1%. Media speculation hints at a possible reneging on long term agreements.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8291810.stm
Step 3. Yesterday Bullingdon boy George Osborne entered the ring, and displaying an uncharacteristic egalitarian approach, outdid Darling and proposed a public sector pay freeze except for anyone earning less than £18k per year (as well as badly paid used and abused squaddies).
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8292680.stm
UNISON’s NEC meeting today is confronted with an unprecedented and rising onslaught against our members. Clear direction must be given to negotiators and a strong message to politicians:
1. Honour existing pay agreements including the third year of the NHS deal in 2010/11.
2. No pay freeze.
3. Hands off our pensions. In recent years after extensive consultation and negotiation workers across the public sector have agreed pension reforms which included concessions which eroded benefits for some current and all future workers. There is no justification for further attacks on our deferred pay.
